Curtain-stretcher.



N. B. ALLEN.

CURTAIN STRETGHER.

APPLICATION rum) ran. 19, 1912.

1,057,207. Patented Mar. 25, 1913. E L== E=- LA v WITNESSES flM x, C/l 02m ATTORNEYS NAPOLEON B. ALLEN, OF NEW YORK N.

CUBTAIN-STRETGHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application nled' February 19, 1912. Serial No. 678,591.

1 atented Mar. 25, 1913.

ments in Curtain-Stretchers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in curtain stretchers, and more particularly to the means employed for connecting the side and end members at thev corners and permitting of the desired adjustment to vary the size of the frame.

Curtain stretchers as ordinarlly constructed have two side and two end bars so connected at the corners that their relative positions may be adjusted to vary the width and the length of the frame. It is desirable that the curtain stretcher be easily adjusted and inexpensive and that the connecting means at the corners be such as will hold the sides and ends accurately at right angles to each other. If the curtain be dried with even a very slight variation from a right angle at the corner it cannot be properly hung as one lower corner will benearer the floor than the other when the side edges are vertical. In my improved construction I utilize a sheet metal plate having two arms in the same plane and each lying flat against a surface of the adjacent frame member and each having side flanges for engaging with the side edges of the corresponding frame member to guide the latter. The two arms of the sheet metal plate being-integral and in the same plane cannot be bent in that plane and their lengths are such that there is practically no movement of the frame member possible except a longitudinal slight movement. The forming of the entire corner piece of sheet metal reduces the cost of manufacture to the minimum and the use of separate arms facilitates the use of separate securing devices for each frame member at the corner.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in WhlCll similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all of the views. a I

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a curtain stretcher constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of my improved corner pieces. Fig. 3

is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,-but on a larger scale; Fig. 4 is an edge view of the frame at the overlapping and slid'ably connected sections of a side member; Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 and Fig. 6 is a plan view of a form of corner piece which I'may employ at the u per corners of the frame.

My improved rame in common with certain other frames for the same purpose includes side and end bars 10 and 11. Each side bar is connected at itsends to bothof the end bars, and the connection is such that the side bars may be moved toward and from each other and the end bars' also moved toward and from each other and all of the bars locked or rigidly fastened in any adjusted position. Each bar has substantially parallel top and bottom surfaces, and an outer surface at right an les thereto. The inner surface or inner side 1s beveled or cut away toward the top surface to present a shoulder 12 upon which are mounted a plurality of upwardly and outwardly projecting pins to which the curtain may be readily secured. The upper ends of these pins do not extend beyond .the upper surface of the main portion of the bar, so that one bar may freely slide over another without interference.

Each side bar 11 is preferably made up of two sections, 11 and 11 slidably connected so that the frame may be extended lengthwise. The lower member l1 carries a metal strap 14, inclosing the upper member and the upper member carries a metal strap 15, inclosing the lower member. Each strap may carry a set screw 16 projecting through the center portion and adapted to engage with the wood of the other bar so as to lock the bars against relative movement whendesired.

At each corner of the frame I provide a corner piece, formed of sheet metal and bent to form guides for both the side and end bars. Each corner piece may assume the form shown in Fig. 2, in which there is abase portion, provided with two arms 17 and 18, lying in the same plane, and one adapted to engage with the upper surface of one bar and the other with the under surface of the other bar. The arm 17 at one edge is bent downwardly to form a flange 19 for engagement with the outer edge of the lower bar and at the lower edge of this flange the metal is bent parallel to the base sliding movement. The other arm 18 at the two bars may each be adjusted length-' one edge is provided with an upwardly extending flange 23 correspondingto the flange 21 and at its opposite edge is provided with a flange 24: corresponding to the flange 19. At the upper free edge of this flange 24 the metal is bent to form a top portion or flange 25, for engagement with the upper surface of the bar. The parts 23, 18, 24: and 25 engage with the four sides of the arm to form a channel and slidably connect the corner piece with the bar. The sliding movement may be prevented by the action of a set screw 26. It will be noted that one bar lies on top of the arm 18 of the base portion, and the other bar lies beneath the arm 17 of the base portion. Thus wise through the corner independently of each other to vary either the length or the width of the frame.

I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction hereinbefore referred to, as it is evident that various changes may be made withinthe scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit of my invention. For instance, I may make the two corner pieces at one side of the frame, as shown in Fig. 6. In this form the two-arms 17 and 18 of the base portion have flanges extending in the same direction, so that both of the bars lie on the same side of the base. The flange 20 of the arm 17 may be cut away at one end so that the bar carried by the arm 18 may slide freely through the corner piece, but the flange 25 of the arm l8 may prevent the other bar from sliding through. Apreferred arrangement is to have the frame set up in a substantially vertical position with two corner pieces of the character shown in Fig. 6 at the upper side of the frame and two corner pieces-of the form shown in Fig. 2 at the lower. side of the frame. The frame could then be freely adjusted lengthwise and could be adjusted in width by raising or lowering the lower side of the bar.

In my improved device the side and end bars are held absolutely at right angles to each other so that the frame must remain rectangular in all adjusted positions. The frame cannot flatten cornerwise, and thus the curtain when dried will have square corners and will hang properly. Furthermore by use of my improved corner pieces it is not necessary to have the side and end bars longitudinally slotted as is common in many frames. Thus the bars in my construction. are much stronger and less liable to bend or break.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is A curtain stretcher including side and end bars and corner members, each of said corner members being formed of sheet metal and including a base portion with said side and end bars in engagement with opposite surfaces thereof and two arms each of a width substantially equal to that of said base portion and extending therefrom at right angles to each other in the plane of said base portion, the corner member having a flange extending along one edge of said base and along the corresponding alined edge of the adjacent arm and projecting in one direction from the plane of said base, and a flange extending along the other free edge of said base and the alined edge of the cerresponding' arm and projecting in the opposite direction from the plane of the base and each of said arms having a second flange along its free edge parallel to the corresponding one of the firstmentioned flanges, the two flanges of each arm and the flanges on said base serving to receive and slidably retain said side and end bars.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

NAPOLEON B. ALLEN.

Witnesses:

ELEANOR T. MINOGUE, CLAIR W. FAIRBANK. 

